Have been busily getting some new designs together for my cards so I can do a quick re-fill at the Treasurer's House before christmas... hoping they will be here in a few days because I am really excited to see them! They include this guy here:

Also have a couple of private commissions that are keeping me busy - and this is good because I need a distraction at the moment.

Illustration Friday - Stripes

All that is missing is his 'swag' bag...

Well, I have been seriously slack on the blog front just recently, though I offer no apologies for this because I have spent a lot of time away from my desk having a jolly good time doing other things.

But now my illustration break has come to an end I am busily working on lots of new designs as well as updating my website which has been offline for a long time (sure to be worth the wait though!) and giving some serious thought as to what to do about my non-existant shop on etsy.

I spent a week back in Edinburgh recently catching up with lots of favourite people and generally having the best time ever - so much so that I have realised I must move back to Edinburgh and therefore I am going to in the next few months.

Took a trip out to town today and stopped by the Treasurer's House for a stock check... already running pretty low on some designs. Christmas puddings and snowflakes are proving popular!

And then we got home and discovered Ethel, one of our frizzly chickens, has laid about 10 eggs under the fir trees - no idea how we'll get them out unless we rake them out.

Did this pretty pattern today, look closer and you'll see it's made up of radishes. Don't like them to eat but they're pretty handy design components.

Have been moving my room and studio around which means sorting through heaps of papers/work/stuff... bonus is that I have lots of old work which I had forgotten about and looking through it got me excited about working on something new.

My attention has strayed form illustration lately because there's been a lot of other things to plan and sort out, but today I have got back to it and enjoyed spending time painting the Lady above. In fact it's brilliant to get back to working with my watercolours and leaving photoshop well alone. I would really like to try painting in acrylics but think it'd cost a fortune and right now I'll have to make do with the paints I have got!

My new cards have been delivered to the Treasurer's House and are now available from there to buy along with other little gifts designed by me.

Have spent all day doing what I hate very much, and that is waiting around for people. First the boiler man and then the log man. And then most of the evening has been spent stacking what felt like a thousand logs into neat piles (for one of them to fall dow on me). However, they do look lovely and make me think it's nearly winter, hoorah!

Naughty Ernie caught this little chaffinch this morning and brought him into the house. We called him Chesney. Luckily we managed to save Chesney from being eaten and took him outside and he flew off and away into the hedge.